Coming Home
by SaintAugustana
Summary: If you haven't seen Episode 5x7- Requiem, this will make no sense to you at all. : Joey takes Maddie's arrival a little to personally and goes astray. WARNING: corporal punishment/spanking.


**Coming Home**** – an NCIS fanfic by Joey (spoilers for "Requiem")**

**11.07.07**

_Ever since the moment Maddie decided to ask for Gibbs' help, Joey had been cool. A little uncomfortable, but cool. _

_Of course, that was only an hour ago. _

"Where's Gibbs?" Joey stepped into the bullpen and dumped her backpack on the floor. It was Friday, and school was out for the weekend.

Tony, Tim, and Ziva were all hovering over Tim's computer, seemingly disturbed and humbled at the same time.

Ziva spoke first.

"He met a girl, uhm...down in the café'."

"Who?" Joey was genuinely interested.

The three of them glanced at each other nervously.

"What's goin' on, guys?"

"Don't you think she ought to know?" McGee whispered to his colleagues. Tony brushed away from the desk and sat down at his own. Ziva just gave a half-hearted I-don't-know-what-to-do shrug and followed suit.

McGee looked as if he was about to say something, but shut his mouth.

Joey was gone.

-------------------------

The café was empty. In the corner by the windows Joey caught sight of Gibbs and another girl, who had her back to him. She looked to be about 20, give or take a couple years. Something about her perfect blonde curls immediately struck Joey as offensive and she didn't like this new girl at all, even though nobody else would see that. She was over-protective of Gibbs. Didn't like sharing.

But she didn't show herself to them. Maybe it was nothing.

-------------------------

A couple hours later found Joey in Abby's lab, doing homework and rocking back and forth to the beat of the music pumping its way out of Abby's stereo.

Abby was on the other side of the table, doing something fancy with a detonator.

Joey looked up for the umpteenth time, tapping her pencil impatiently, trying to ask her without sounding like she cared all that much.

"Hey, Abby – who's that girl?"

Abby didn't look up. "What girl?"

"The girl Gibbs was with today."

"Oh – that girl." Abby was avoiding the subject.

"Yeah, Abs, THAT girl."

"Oh...well, she's uhm...a friend of Gibbs."

"I've never seen her before."

"She's an _old_ friend of Gibbs."

"From when?"

Abby fidgeted.

"Maybe...15 years ago?" She was unsure.

"Awh, come on, Abs – she can't be older than _20-somethin'_ at the most. Fifteen years ago she would have only been..." Joey's words faltered and faded into a whisper before dissipating completely. She dropped her pencil, somewhat forcefully, on the lab table and pushed away from the counter, slipping off the stool and onto the floor. In her wake the lab door slid shut with a snap.

-------------------------

Creepy stalker man was on the loose again.

Joey had been updated on the case mostly through conversations she overheard between the team. She hadn't spoken to Gibbs. He'd gone home for a break from work, but he seemed intent on something she couldn't pinpoint.

She didn't know about the lunchbox in the backyard.

-------------------------

The day passed without giving much notice. Soon it was morning again, and then the clock shoved into the afternoon hours with a drive that sent Joey tingling with suppressed annoyance.

She hadn't spoken to Gibbs, still, save for the 'good night' and 'good morning' that came and passed all too quickly. Now Gibbs was taking out his SIG Sauer and heading for the elevator without announcing where he was going.

He left his badge.

-------------------------

3 o' clock rolled around and Gibbs still wasn't back. But now the rest of the team was on the move, and they all seemed worried. Joey wasn't stupid – it wasn't like Gibbs to just go off somewhere, especially while on the job, but the new girl had been kidnapped – Joey had since learned her name: Maddie. _Maddie._ MaddieMaddieMaddieMaddie. Saying it made her want to spit. Thinking it made her want to bash her head against the wall. Picturing it all spelled out on paper made her want to start a bonfire. She didn't let it show.

-------------------------

Joey stared blankly out the window and into the pouring rain outside. The sound was relaxing. The bullpen was reflected behind her, but she tried to block it out. Tony was the only one in the room besides her. It was late. They said that Gibbs and Maddie had almost drowned, and Tony had saved them, and Gibbs was near dead and had to spend a few hours in the hospital to clear his lungs.

And it wasn't even Gibbs who had told her – it was another snippet of overheard conversation carried on between Ducky and the Director when everyone was reunited at the bullpen a few minutes back.

Gibbs offered Maddie a place to stay until her apartment locks could be replaced and she could have just as easily said "oh, no, it won't take long – thanks, though, Jethro," as she said "thanks, Jethro, thanks so much," before she hugged him and he hugged her back.

It made her steam inside. But outside she was indifferent.

But Tony was now the only one in the bullpen. Gibbs was down in the café' with Maddie, Ducky was finished autopsy reports, Ziva and McGee had gone home...

Outside there was a brilliant, star-streaked navy sky, somewhere behind the rain. The streetlamp light below was hazy and rested in small orbs around each light. Christmas, actually, was coming really soon – within the next couple weeks – and she could see various colors of light adorning various rooftops across the street and down a ways as far as she could see, which wasn't very far, because of the rain.

"So, you made a Christmas list yet?"

Joey broke out of a light trance and turned her head slowly back at Tony, who was looking back at her.

"I'm 12, Tony. Not 2." And she glared back outside, hearing him rise from his chair and pace over to the window. He sat to her left on the flat, cushioned bench and looked outside the window.

"You know, Maddie's just a friend of Kelly's – it's not like she's Gibbs'-" He quieted himself. That hadn't come out the way he had intended.

"Like what, Dinozzo?" It wasn't a question meant to be answered. She glared at him. "Not like his daughter?"

She allowed her gaze to turn back to the outside world of rain.

He sighed. "He's just...trying to get back some of what he lost, Joey. Maddie could never replace Kelly or you just like you could never replace Kelly."

_Okay, so that's not exactly what she wanted to hear...but still..._

"I never _thought_ I could, Tony." She looked back at him, feeling like she'd just been accused of something. "I just _did, _you know?" Once again, her gaze returned to the rain. "I just _did_. I never meant to. I just...I came into his life without him having any choice but to put up with me and I took away something..." she lifted her hand slightly, defeated and confused. "He found something in Maddie that takes him back to that place, and that makes him happier..." She sighed and put her head in her hands.

"He thinks of her as a daughter. She's what Kelly would be now if she hadn't been killed, and that's not going to go away."

Tony wanted to say that he understood how she felt – in essence, Joey was a combination of jealousness and selflessness all wrapped up in one little ball of confused disconnection. But he didn't have time. Joey got up and walked out of the room.

-------------------------

"There's a spare room down the hall," Gibbs took Maddie's coat and hung it on the rack, then shrugged off his own. Joey simply deposited hers over the living room chair, about to head upstairs to her room in the attic with the little window she loved to climb out of, but Gibbs pulled her back by the collar and pointed at her dripping jacket. She sighed and hung it up.

"Mind if I use the bathroom, Jethro?" Maddie asked.

"You don't have to ask, Maddie." He smiled in a fatherly way. "Right across the hall from your bedroom."

Joey rolled her eyes and mimed what Gibbs had said to herself, annoyed and making fun of him and her.

-------------------------

Joey glanced over at the digital clock. _2:23 a.m._

She hadn't slept yet. Maddie was downstairs, all comfy and warm, with Gibbs only one room over, ready to spring out of bed at the smallest sign of danger.

It didn't take much more than this realization to get Joey out of bed, dressed, and out the window.

-------------------------

There came a rapping sound on the front door. Tony groaned and checked the clock: _3:12 a.m_. He rubbed his face and got out of bed, wearing nothing but boxers and a white t-shirt.

He opened the door, prepared to yell at whatever idiot was calling this early.

"Don't you realize how early-" Tony opened his groggy eyes and stared at sopping-wet Joey, who was shivering so hard she was visibly shaking.

"Damn, Joey!" His angry tone was more ejected out of concern then anger. He pulled her inside and punched the Heater button on the thermostat. She just stood, shivering, behind him, as if waiting for further instruction. Being cold and wet made it hard for her to move or speak.

"Joey, what the hell-" he pulled her to the side and stopped to her eye level, "alright, look, no, don't stand there, you're dripping on my new shoes, what are you doing here? It's three in the morning on a Saturday, below 30 outside, it's POURING rain-"

Joey sniffled lightly. The anger melted away from Tony and he straightened up, sighing.

"I gotta call Gibbs. You know I gotta call Gibbs." He was almost pleading with her. She responded the same way, with a pleading look in her eyes, but she still couldn't talk. She just shook her head.

"Come on, let's get you some dry clothes..." he led her to his bathroom and helped her remove her hat, scarf, jacket, and sweater. Still, though, the rain had managed to soak all the layers of clothing – down to her jeans and the t-shirt underneath the jacket and sweater. Joey's breathing was erratic and went with the shakiness off her cold body. Tony pulled a wristband off her arm.

And, without thinking, she just came forward and hugged him tightly, her arms around his waist and her head buried in his shirt. Even though the water dripping off her messy hair mingled with the tears, Tony could still tell she was crying a little. His first instinct was to push her away, but then he remembered that he understood how she felt and he wrapped his arms around her, one hand on her head, trying to hug the cold out of her.

"I _have_ to call Gibbs, Joey."

"No, don't...please. I can't go back there...there's too much...she's there...and I can't..." she lost her words as they were muffled by Tony's shirt. He could barely understand her.

He gripped her collar gently and pulled her away from him, kneeling to meet her gaze squarely.

"You do realize how much trouble I'm going to be in if I don't call Gibbs?"

She nodded soberly.

He sighed and stood up, exiting the bathroom. Joey just stood still, expecting to hear his voice over the phone, talking to Gibbs.

She jumped slightly when he came back into the room a few seconds later.

"Did you-"

"No." He tossed her a clean t-shirt. Granted it was too big for her, but she smiled lightly and took it anyway.

-------------------------

The next morning Tony got a call-out from NCIS.

He got Joey up and gave her clothes back – he had sent them through the dryer the previous night.

He was outside in the car waiting for her, drumming his fingers impatiently on the wheel and wondering if she was like this every morning and thinking that if Gibbs didn't kill him today it would only be because he'd had a sudden change of heart or was drunk on coffee, finally, which wasn't going to happen. Joey finally appeared outside the passenger side window and opened the door, but she didn't get in.

"You go ahead, I'll meet you there." She said, almost cheerfully.

"What? No, I am not letting you walk all the way to NCIS, come on, Joey, I'm late and-"

"You thought I walked here?" She grinned and closed the door, going around the side of his townhouse.

"Joeeeeeeey..."

There was the sound of an engine starting, a _vroom-vroom_ and a bright orange moped zoomed past the driver-side of Tony's car. Joey waved back at him as she took off down the street.

-------------------------

"Hey, Boss." Tony stepped into the bullpen and set his stuff down.

"You're late, Dinozzo." Gibbs didn't look back at him – he was staring at the plasma. McGee was marking out a radius on the map.

"Sorry, Boss, I had to-" He stopped. "Wait, didn't Joey come in yet?"

Gibbs threw the remote down on his desk and advanced on Tony.

"Why do you think I called you in, Dinozzo?" His face was mere inches from Tony's.

"Wait...Joey's_missing_?" Tony was awestruck. At the speed she was going on that moped she should have beaten him here.

"That's not possible, Boss, I mean, I, I just saw her this morning. I just saw her fifteen minutes ago, Gibbs, she can't be missing."

Gibbs scrutinized the younger agent, angry and relieved at the same time – a potent combination. Tony lowered his gaze for a moment but lifted his head again to explain, mentally cursing himself for not forcing Joey to get in the car with him.

"I – Boss, she showed up at my door at 3 a.m. last night, cold and wet and she couldn't talk 'cause she was shivering so hard, and she got water all over my new shoes-"

"Dinozzo!"

"I swear, Boss, I was going to call you, it's just..."

"Just WHAT?" Gibbs was about to lose it, he could tell.

"She...she said not to, and I...I mean, it was 3 a.m., f' crying out loud, Boss...I just let her sleep on the couch...she was...she was-" He stopped, sighing heavily, not wanting to tell Gibbs why she was at his place in the first place.

"What did she say?"

"She said she couldn't go back because Maddie's at your place now, and that there was too much..."

"Too much what?" The anger was fading. Gibbs was just concerned now.

Tony didn't answer, just looked down.

Gibbs smacked him, hard, across the back of his head.

Tony groaned, but resisted rubbing.

"I dunno, Boss – her words were kinda muffled by my shirt...she was crying."

-------------------------

Joey skidded to a stop outside the Washington Memorial Bank, flipping her cell phone shut and walking around to the side of the building. There was a guy there waiting for her.

"Hey, Eddie, thanks for meeting me on a Saturday." She pulled a slip of paper out of her pocket and signed her name at the bottom.

"No problem. Tell me again what's in this for me?"

"$50. No more, no less."

Eddie rubbed a hand thoughtfully against his chin. He was a tall, skinny guy, with skinny black jeans, a skinny Rolling Stones t-shirt, and wristbands and dark, slick hair that hung straight to his neck. Their friendship was mutual.

"Hmmm...$80. No more, no less." He replied.

Joey rolled her eyes and sighed. "Fine – just do it and go buy yourself some crack."

He laughed and walked around to the front of the building.

When Eddie returned a few minutes later, he handed Joey some rolled-up bills from his left hand and pocketed those in his right.

"$300 – there you go, kid."

"Thanks, Eddie. See ya." She left the alley, shoving the money in her jacket pocket and walking back to the moped.

"I'll be around." He replied.

-------------------------

Joey didn't go far. Spent a couple hours walking around the shopping district before actually buying anything. She hated the Christmas tunes that kept playing all over the streets, but the lights were nice, and the streets were frosty.

She ended up buying gifts for everybody on the team except Gibbs.

She couldn't think of anything to buy for Gibbs.

So she took a break for lunch and stopped for a sandwich.

"Hey, Pete!" She shouted when she walked into the store and sat down at the counter.

"Oh, hola, mi amiga! What's going on with you?" He appeared behind the counter, cleaning a knife.

She loved Pete's thick Spanish accent.

"Christmas shopping." She answered.

"Ah – yes, este dia es muy bonita, verdad?"

She gave a slight nod and smiled.

"So, you having the usual, nina?"

"Yup. Hold the peppers."

"Coming right up!"

She ate slowly, paid quickly, and walked out. She glanced at her watch: 2: 32 p.m.

She reached her moped where she had parked it in an alley and revved up the engine, thinking about her lack of gift for Gibbs. On her way down the street, heading back to NCIS, she passed a small shop on the corner. Doubling back she parked and dismounted, approached the window and stared inside.

"Perfect."

-------------------------

Gibbs was pacing around the bullpen, McGee was firing out suggestions, and Ziva just sat at her desk, her head in her hands in exhaustion.

"Hey, Boss, maybe if I-" Tony began, before...

The elevator dinged twice, signaling someone coming up to this floor.

Joey, emerged, one hand in her jacket pocket, the other clutching the handles of various shopping bags full of gift-wrapped presents slung over her shoulder, which she cautiously set down at the base of Tony's desk as she stepped into the bullpen, removed her hat, scarf, and jacket, and stood, hands in her pockets, before her godfather. She was almost ready to be completely apologetic, but then Maddie appeared behind the cubicle wall, and that faded faster than it had come.

She still swallowed uneasily. She wasn't sorry, though – she was angry. A little uneasy, yes – she knew she was in trouble, but she wasn't going to be all "sorry" for what she did. She hated Maddie being there.

The bullpen fell silent. McGee, Ziva, and Tony all looked up and watched apprehensively. Gibbs stepped forward, standing a few feet away. He didn't speak – it was like he was trying to gather together his words.

Instead, he motioned with his finger for her to follow him, and he pivoted briskly, heading for the interrogation hall.

Joey followed, tossing a grateful smile at Tony and a deathly glare at Maddie.

-------------------------

Gibbs closed the door after Joey entered. He paced around her once and she rubbed the back of her neck casually. He settled against the table, leaning on the edge with his arms crossed.

"You've got about 2 seconds to start talking." His tone was dangerously stern.

"About what?" _Oooo...that was bold. _Joey shut her eyes for a second and looked up. Gibbs was in front of her now. She swallowed again.

"Don't test me, Joey."

She didn't answer. She was determined, for some reason, not to answer.

But she did, anyway.

"Why not? Why the shouldn't I test you? Because I know I'll be punished for it? Because I know it's wrong?" Her voice had escalated to a yell by the end of these words. She turned, looking both ways as if to try and find a way out, or some help, but there was nothing, and she kicked the wall in frustration, her arms up against the plaster and her head hanging down to her chest, facing the wall.

That only lasted a second before she swung around again.

"Because I know you don't care anymore? WELL, THAT'S NEWS TO ME, ALRIGHT. I KNOW THAT YOU'VE GOT MADDIE NOW AND SHE'S LIKE...she's like Kelly...I'm FINE, GIBBS – I'll leave you guys alone –I've taken care of myself before, I can do it again." Joey finished abruptly and immediately flushed with a burning regret, breathing heavily, the tears glazing her eyes and threatening to spill.

Only a second went by before Gibbs had Joey by the collar and pulled her over to the chair. He let go, pushed the table away with such force it slid all the way to rest under the observation room window, and sat down, grabbing Joey again and depositing her over his lap.

He steadied her with one had still gripping her collar and the other on the small of her back. Then, slowly and rhythmically, Gibbs began to land the swats.

Joey did her utmost best not to struggle or kick or cry, but she was already so near that point that it was only by the 5th or 6th swat that she began to sob quietly on his lap - not so much from the physical pain as the mental anguish - hands behind her head, tears dropping to the carpet below.

Gibbs relinquished after the nest few swats – it had only been a light spanking, one not designed to thoroughly punish, but rather to kick-start his wayward goddaughter back to reality. Gibbs pulled Joey up and had her stand in front of him. She tried to casually brush the tears away from her eyes and rub her stinging backside at the same time.

"Joey, look at me." Gibbs' voice was calm, but firm. No traces of compassion quite yet – he just wanted to get a point across.

She just shook her head and continued to look at the floor, not wanting to face him now.

"Joey."

She sniffed lightly.

He popped her firmly under her chin with his finger. "Look at me. Now."

She did.

"Joey, nobody is ever going to replace Kelly."

That wasn't want she wanted to hear. She made to look down again, but Gibbs smacked her lightly on the back of the head and she looked up hesitantly.

"Joey, nobody's ever going to replace you."

Her breathing seemed to slow. All at once she was confused and relieved and slightly nervous.

"That would have been nice to know before I went AWOL." She smiled a little, but it faded at sight of his stern look.

"Go get cleaned up. Wait in Abby's office."

Her bottom throbbed painfully at the thought of what was coming later.

-------------------------

"Later" came all too quickly for Joey. Gibbs collected her at Abby's office at 6 p.m. Maddie was there with him. Joey scowled, but a look from Gibbs wiped it off her face.

But then Maddie spoke up. "Hey, Jethro, you know, Tony offered to let me stay at his place tonight, and I think I'd like to."

Joey's mouth fell open.

Gibbs turned to look at Maddie, wondering about Tony's possible...motives...but then it hit him that maybe Tony understood that Gibbs and Joey needed a night to themselves to...deal with the issue at hand.

"Alright." He nodded and she smiled and turned to walk out. "Don't let him do anything stupid."

She just smiled and walked out.

"Goodnight Gibbs!" Abby shut down her last computer and stopped directly in front of him. Joey swiveled once around on her lab stool.

"'Night, Abs," he replied, kissing her on the forehead before she walked out, glancing back at Joey and tossing her a supportive smile.

Now it was just the two of them left in the lab. Perhaps the whole building. Joey looked up.

"Come here, Joey."

She reluctantly slid off the stool and approached him.

He drew her into a tight hug and it took a second for her to put her arms around his waist. Gibbs stroked her hair and rubbed her back.

"Time to go home."

-------------------------

It was the shortest car ride in history. Had to be. One minute they were getting in and the next they were getting out, parked in front of the house.

When they got inside, Joey anticipated instruction.

They had eaten takeout at the office, so dinner wasn't a distraction for Gibbs at the moment.

Which absolutely, totally _sucked._

"Go take a bath."

-------------------------

She made a point of staying in the bathroom as long as possible without making it look like she was avoiding what would inevitably come.

Slipping out of the tub and into a grey ribbed undershirt, cotton blue-plaid pajama pants, and thick white socks, Joey cautiously slid out into the hallway. Her short hair was wet, still, and she shook like a dog and rubbed the towel back and forth over her head, leaving her hair spiky, still wet, and even more messy-looking, if possible.

She paced slowly downstairs. Gibbs was lying on his back on the couch, watching the news. He'd changed into jeans and an NIS sweatshirt. Joey was quiet as she approached. He saw her come down the stairs, but he didn't want to simply pounce on her and began reading the riot act. He laid still.

Joey felt like the father-daughter relationship between her and him was on tenterhooks and so, tentatively, she came to stand at his feet and laid herself on top of him lengthwise, her head near his. He reached up and rubbed her back, still focused on the television. Joey relaxed for a moment as his slow breaths undulated in his chest and sent her moving up and down with each roll.

After a minute Gibbs pulled her up and sat up as well, leaving her to sit on the couch while he moved to sit on the coffee table, facing her.

"What were you thinking, Joey?" Now his tone carried hints of anger among the firmness.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

Joey swallowed a wad of saliva and cringed as it went down. "I told you..." her voice was low and shaky, "...back at NCIS."

"Say it again."

"H-how come?"

"Because it wasn't quite clear before – you were yelling wild."

"Made sense to me."

Gibbs pulled her forward a little and landed a smack on her backside.

"Awh...Jethro, that huuuuurt." She whined. "I dun wanna say it again."

Gibbs raised his hand again.

"Okay, okay – I was upset that you were letting Maddie stay here and I know you think of her like the daughter that Kelly could have been and I was going to leave because I didn't fit in the picture anymore." She spilled it out rather quickly, having not really wanted to share this thought.

He paused, digesting these words. Joey pulled her knees to her chest. Gibbs couldn't help but smile at this childlike action. It reminded him how very _young_ Joey really was.

"You ran off because you were jealous?"

"No – I was jealous at first, but I never thought she'd end up staying with us...and...I know how happy it makes you to think about Kelly. I wanted you to have that with Maddie. I thought I was going to get in the way."

Gibbs' expression changed from one of firm encouragement to resigned shock. He looked down and rubbed his face with his free hand.

Joey coughed lightly and lay back on the pillow against the arm of the couch.

Gibbs looked back at her and moved forward, leaning over her small frame, one hand on the couch on either side of her body to steady himself. Joey looked up humbly.

"Joey, what I saw in Maddie is what Kelly should have been."

"I know."

"Do you know what I see in you?"

"That a trick question?"

He smiled lightly and she grinned.

"There's a lot of what Kelly was in there – same hair, same eyes, same energy."

Joey perked up immediately. "Really?"

"You can't replace Kelly – Maddie can't replace you." His expression hardened again. "That clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." He got up and started to walk towards the stairs.

Joey was slightly shocked. "Wait- so...so we're done? That's it? I can go to bed now?"

Gibbs' are-you-kidding look was enough to answer her question. He motioned with his finger to follow him upstairs and she sighed, then did so, her stomach doing flip-flops. She knew what was coming, but she hated being spanked. It wasn't very often, either, that she'd stepped this far over the line.

Gibbs paced into Joey's bedroom and waited for Joey to join him. Placing his hands under her arms he lifted her to sit on the bed and crouched down in front of her.

"Start listing everything you did wrong." His tone was strict again.

"Like...since I was born or-" He smacked her upside the head.

"Sorry – uh...I was jealous-"

"You're entitled to your own emotions, Joey. I'm not going to punish you for being jealous, feeling excluded, or not liking Maddie."

"Okay – I left the house without telling you...I told Tony not to call you-"

"Tony had to make a decision. Whether or not you told him to call me, it was still his choice not to. Understand?"

She nodded twice. "I went out for the morning without telling you where I was going...and..." She couldn't think of anything else. Actually, no, that wasn't true...

"Where'd you get the money to pay for all that stuff you bought?"

_Crap._ "I withdrew from my parent's savings for me."

"Your college fund?"

She looked down. "...yes."

"How much?"

She didn't answer. _Ohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrapohcrap_,

"Hey!" He demanded an answer.

"Three hundred..."

Gibbs sighed heavily and looked down, then back up at Joey.

"...and eighty." She cringed.

"THREE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY DOLLARS?"

The 'yes' that came sounded more like a whimper than a word.

"How long have you been doing that?"

"I only did it twice!" She faltered at Gibbs' glare. "Okay – three times. Including this time."

"How much?"

"Totally or individually?"

"Joey-"

"Uhm...like...$50 the first time and $100-something the second time..."

"Hell, Joey... "

Silence.

Finally Gibbs spoke. "Go downstairs - stand in the corner." He nodded in the direction of the door, needing some time to decide what to do.

Joey shuffled off down the stairs to the living room to the far corner and stood, facing the wall, waiting. She knew better than to move. Gibbs took a long time to come down.

Boldly, Joey glanced over her shoulder. Nobody was there. She looked back at the wall, then back over her shoulder again. Nope. She was considering moving...

But Gibbs' footsteps resounded on the stairs and that notion exploded into nothing in her head.

She heard him move the coffee table to the wall, leaving the living room an open space. He sat down on the couch and looked up at the girl in the corner.

"Joey, come here."

She hesitated, then shook her head.

"Katherine Joanne, come here."

She sighed inwardly at the use of her full name. Slowly she turned and came to sit at his side, hands in her lap, head down.

Gibbs put his arm around her shoulders. He'd understood her feelings, but he couldn't let her get away with her behavior.

"You understand the reason for what's about to happen?" He spoke quietly.

"Yes, sir," she answered, waiting for him to continue.

He nodded as if to affirm to himself that both of them were ready to get this over with.

"Alright. Stand up."

Joey swallowed nervously before complying and inhaled deeply, bracing herself for what was about to come.

"Pants down."

Joey flushed. "No! Jethro, please..."

"Now, Joey," Gibbs said sternly.

"Jethro..." Joey started to whine, "please don't make me."

Gibbs was unwavering. He simply waited for her to obey. Slowly she untied her drawstring and lowered her pajama pants – they pooled at her feet. Without speaking, Gibbs gripped Joey's collar and pulled her over his lap. After getting a firm grasp on Joey's collar he swatted her twice, hard.

"Ow!" Joey yelped.

"Don't make me have to tell you twice again. Hands behind your back."

"No, Jethro! I'll be still, I promise!" She protested.

Gibbs sighed. More than once she had tried to pull herself off his lap by grabbing the chair legs, and ended up hurting herself.

"Alright."

And with that, Gibbs started to swat. Joey jumped at the first one, but only groans followed the smacks after that. She was doing her best not to cry. She was determined to _not_ cry.

Gibbs reiterated the swats with a lecture.

**SWAT, SWAT** "It doesn't matter," **SWAT, SWAT** "what else is going on," **SWAT, SWAT** "you don't run away," **SWAT,** SWAT "in the middle of the night." **SWAT, SWAT**

Joey couldn't stem the flow of tears falling down her face. Both the swats and the lecture hurt. However, she didn't have much time to think about it before she felt her underwear being pulled down.

"NO!" Joey yelled as she bucked and tried to get up. Gibbs settled her with two of his hardest swats yet.

**SWAT, SWAT **"OW!"

"Settle down. Hands behind your back."

Joey whimpered and laid still, slack over his lap. She felt his hand tight around her wrists in the small of her back, and her backside burned. Gibbs didn't miss a beat.

**SWAT, SWAT** "Don't ever withdraw money," **SWAT, SWAT** "without permission," **SWAT, SWAT** "and don't lie to me again." **SWAT, SWAT** "Whether or not you believe it"**SWAT, SWAT** "I will always care about you," **SWAT, SWAT** "and I'm not going to let you go."

At this point Joey was sobbing. She fought to suppress them, but whimpers still came. She knew she deserved every second of this spanking but it'd been a long time since the last one and she couldn't believe that she hadn't remembered how much it hurt.

She didn't even realize Gibbs had stopped when he did.

He allowed her a minute or so to cry over his lap, pulling up her underwear and pajama pants before gruffly lifting her by the collar to stand in front of him. He, too, stood and began to unbuckle his belt. Joey buried her face in her hands and tried to stem the tears. Gibbs pulled her over to the coffee table. He stood next to the low table and lifted his leg to rest his left foot on the surface, pulling Joey over his upper leg and gripping her collar with his left hand, his belt folded in half in his right.

"Next time you do something that stupid," Gibbs' tone was firm, scolding, and Joey closed her eyes, anticipating the first smack of the leather, "you'll be getting the whole spanking with the belt."

SMACK. SMACK. SMACK. SMACK.

Joey took the whipping without crying out, just groaning and occasional whimpers. She hung her head over her godfather's knee and began to sob. Gibbs finished the last smack quickly and tossed his belt to the sofa. He guided Joey upstairs to her room and laid her again, on his lap. She began to struggle, but he gently touched her head then focused on rubbing circles on her back. Joey cried quietly.

"Sshhhhh..." he whispered soothingly. "It's over." He gently drew back her pants and underwear to survey the damage. Her bottom was red and displayed a few marks, but that would fade quickly. He never spanked with the intention of _leaving_ marks.

"I'm s-sorry," Joey whispered, her head resting on her crossed arms. Gibbs stood and slid her down flat on her double bed, helping her with a pillow and lying down next to her.

She snuggled close to his side, picking feebly at a bit of loose string on his sweatshirt. He placed his arm under her head and rubbed her back some more.

"Don't do that again, Joey."

She looked up. Gibbs sounded...shaky...like he was recovering from some kind of shock. It was unusual to see him like that – there was a blank stare in his blue eyes she couldn't have caught if the room had been any darker.

"What?" She whispered, sniffing again.

"Run away because you think you're in my way." He looked at her.

"Oh. Y-yes, sir."

He tilted her chin up a little and smiled lightly.

"I love you, Joey."

She snuggled in closer and he drew the blankets up around her shoulders. Within a few minutes she was asleep, but not before whispering, "I love you, too, Daddy."

Gibbs had time to reflect on that statement. It brought a smile to his face to hear his old name used again – nobody had called him "daddy" for 15 years...and Joey had never called him that before...of course, maybe it was just because she was half-asleep at the time and clutching her father's old dog tags in her fist at the moment...yes...maybe it just slipped.

But then, maybe it was something he needed to hold on to.

Maybe for Joey it was like coming home.


End file.
